Cody on Cage on Joyce by Cody Trepte

Cody on Cage on Joyce (2008) is “a writing through a writing” according to the artist’s own description (Trepte, Rhizome.org). Cody Trepte pays tribute to two of the artists who inspired him: James Joyce and John Cage. He gives us a powerful sense of artistic legacy (Trepte), updating their early works using his random word generation program. Trepte employs 21st century technology to rework the text of Fourth Writing through Finnegan’s Wake (1972). Written by avant-garde artist John Cage, Fourth Writing was, in turn, based on randomized selections of Finnegans Wake a novel written by James Joyce in 1939. Joyce’s contribution to this litany of randomization is, in itself, idiosyncratic (Wikipedia). Joyce spent almost 20 years combining over 60 languages into an invented strange language for the book he wanted “to convey what goes on in a dream, during a dream”.

Like Joyce’s Finnegans Wake and Cage’s Fourth Writing through Finnegan’s Wake, Cody on Cage on Joyce pokes light-hearted fun at our need to make sense out of nonsense. In all three works, letters as well as words are combined at random. Capital letters appear anywhere within a group of letters, suspending our normal rules of language to create that dream quality.

Unlike Joyce’s or Cage’s work, however, Cody on Cage on Joyce is not static, finalized into a permanent text. It is plastic, changing with each ‘refresh’ of the browser. Trepte felt the internet was the perfect medium for Cody on Cage on Joyce (Trepte) and I agree. Although the text is considered “unreadable” (Rhizome.org) the fun of this project is to try: try to read it, try to make sense of it, try it on again. The project has the feel of a magic eight ball where we eagerly await the next ‘answer’, no matter how absurd. After each new selection we have an opportunity to generate a new story of our very own. Each new refresh has a charming quality of personal possession since nobody else will ever have exactly the same version. My inability to post a section of the text from the "launch Art" site, makes that feeling even stronger. I accessed the work at Rhizome.org but it is also available on CD.

The poetic-verse structure of Cody on Cage on Joyce elicits the comforting sense of rhythm that poetry provides. It is enlightening and delightful when we experience the limitless power of our brains to create new connections and produce our own story from the available ‘nonsense’ and randomness. Personally, I found it is endlessly entertaining.

Citations:

Trepte, Cody. …might be good. Artist Space: Cody Trepte [Internet]. Available at http://www.fluentcollab.org/mbg/index.php/artistsspace/index/94.

Trepte, Cody. Cody on Cage on Joyce [Internet]. Available at https://webmail.smcm.edu/OWA/redir.aspx?C=ba769135409f4b159836432cdf201072&URL=http%3a%2f%2frhizome.org%2fobject.php%3f48567

Trepte, Cody. Statements: Cody Trepte [Internet]. Available at https://webmail.smcm.edu/OWA/redir.aspx?C=ba769135409f4b159836432cdf201072&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.codytrepte.com%2findex.php%3f%2finfo%2fstatements%2f.

Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia, Finnegans Wake [Internet]. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnegans_Wake.

Review of DIALTONES: A TELESYMPHONY

I found DIALTONES: A TELESYMPHONY brilliant. Creative and inventive, this complicated acoustic production was performed entirely from the pre-programmed sounds of 200 wireless mobile telephones. The unique approach and completely original composition by Golan Levin and Scott Gibbons was first presented in 2001 in Lintz, Austria at the TAKEOVER: the 2001 Ars Electronica Festival and again at the Arteplage Mobile de Jura in 2002.

The Dialtones project was both organizationally and technologically complex. Levin, Gibbons and co-creator Gregory Shakers, along with a handful of others, combined the phone sounds we hear in our daily modern life to expose the “overlooked” potential for a new artistic venue. Intent on illustrating the “hype, hate and hypnosis surrounding the mobile phone” this team set out to expose us to “what we might learn about our interconnected selves, in their high, pure tones” (Dialtones: A Telesymphony).

Achieving their goal required careful preparation. Audience cell phone numbers had to be registered at Web kiosks prior to the concert. New dialing and ringtone sounds were assigned and uploaded to participants’ phones after registration. Corresponding seat assignment tickets were then issued before entry into the concert hall. Levin, after obtaining his Master's degree from the MIT Media Lab, wrote the software which allowed a live troupe of musicians access to the 200 phones, up to 60 phones at once (Rullman). The visual-musical software instrument which activated audience phone tones choreographed both the sound tones and lighting effects. There were two sets of lighting effects; overhead spotlights that highlighted the activated cell phone participant and streaming, computer-generated screen graphics on stage to further entertain and stimulate the audience. According to the artists’ statement, the creation “affords a diverse range of unprecedented sonic phenomena and musically interesting structures”.

I feel the artistic success of Dialtones resulted from the clear intent (and collaboration) of the team. They were deliberately using sounds we often find distracting and irritating to enlighten us to greater possibilities. To me, that is what art is about. By staying within the actual limitations of the basic sound range and duration of mobile phone devices, they unlocked a deeper appreciation for the music of the ‘phone-as-instrument’ in me. The accidental coughs and unplanned audience reactions remind us that this was still interactive art and human involvement was part of the performance of the highly electronic presentation.

If you want to see the entire concert it is available at several websites (Dialtones : A Telesymphony). There are a few sample snippets here and there on YouTube (youTube.com)

I watched the available samples with my eyes open and then with my eyes closed. The two approaches felt very different but both felt complete and relaxing, almost comforting. A very pleasant experience, the only possible criticism I have about Dialtones is that it was too relaxing, too hypnotic. It dazed me. Some elements of drama were missing. This may have been due to the limitations of the actual 'phone-as-instrument' device. Reviewing the actual thoughtfulness and complete focus of the Dialtones: A Telesymphony project team, that was probably their desired effect.


Dialtones: A Telesymphony , available at www.flong.com/storage/experience/telesymphoney/index.html.

Rullman, Brien, Telesymphony: Music for Cellphones available at http://www.modsquare.com/editoral/features/138-telesymphony-music-for-cellphones.html.

YouTube, Mobile Phone Concert: Dialtones @ Ars Electronica 2001. Avaiable at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1G-YesiBB8

You Tube, Mobile Phone Concert: Artist Interview. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3IhQKRob9g.

Ken Y. Goldberg: The modern all-around guy

Ken Goldberg is currently the Director of the University of California Berkeley Center for New Media, along with several other appointments: Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, a joint appointment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a few others. Goldberg graduated suma cum laude from University of Pennsylvania in 1984 with degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Economics and got his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in 1990 (Wikipedia). The man is not only a genius, he is a very busy genius.

He may look like your average guy (and he may be on other planets) but he is so much more. http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/index-flash.html He is both inventor and artist extraordinaire. His contributions to electronics, robotics and the Internet are prolific. His donations to New Media Art are overwhelming; intrinsically linked to his electronic and engineering capabilities. A short list begins with his Ph.D. dissertation and weaves in and out of his art:

First algorithm for polygonal orientation used to orient any parts rotations.
Invented/patented kinematically yielding gripper along with 6 other patents
First robot with Web interface
Untitled (1987) an artistic composition blending math and art
Inter Caetera Divina (1992) combined history, robotics and art
Telegarden (1995-2004), online for nine years at Ars Electronica Center in Austria

Online and on-going game Ouija (2000-2009) Internet-joins up to 20 remote players
Infiltrate (2003) virtual representation of what a real fish sees.
Demonstrate Interactive Web connected to telerobics project of 2004
The Tribe (2005), a film about the Jews and Barbie.
Ballet Mori (2006) electronically commemorates the San Francisco Earthquake
using Earth seismic activity to produce music accompanied by modern dance

His interests seem to match his intellect; apparently unlimited. His many current projects run the gamut but include:

Opinion Space, an information gathering and comparing site,
CONE Welder, a NSF/Smithsonian project with robot cameras and wild birds
Steering Flexible Needles Through Soft-Tissue, Berkeley/Johns Hopkins project

Algorithmic Automation, a project to bring researchers together with manufacturers

Although all of his works are inspired and impressive the one captured my fascination, awe and respect for Goldberg's works is Demonstrate. Goldberg and Deirdre Mulligan installed Demonstrate at the Berkley campus of University of California in 2004. The interactive Web site with telerobotic video cameras celebrated 40 years of the Free Speech movement which was born through activist demonstrations on that campus in the 1960s. Anyone with a computer could observe the day or night activities of Berkeley's Sproul Plaza in a sort of ‘Big Brother’ manner (Tribe). The project was designed to provoke discussion on visual privacy (Goldberg and Mulligan). Anyone with Internet access could participate. For six weeks, the remote audience was allowed to take pictures at various distances, including close-ups, post their comments and add to others comments. Over 1100 photos were taken. Along with the commentary and commentary on the commentary, the saved data is available on line at http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/art/ along with other projects of Goldberg’s electronic portfolio.

Citations:
Goldberg, Ken, 2006 [Internet]. Available through http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/
Tribe, Mark, New Media Art Introduction [Internet] Available through https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/display/MarkTribe/New+Media+Art+-+Introduction
Goldberg, Ken, 2006. Ken Goldberg: Artwork, [Internet]. http://goldberg.berkeley.edu/index-flash.html
Ken Goldberg and Deirdre Mulligan. Too Close For Comfort: Free Speech, Privacy, and the Demonstrate Project". Talk or presentation, 15, September, 2005 [Internet]. Available through http://www.truststc.org/pubs/6.html

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ken Goldberg [Internet]. Available through http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Goldberg.

Digital photos resolved to 72 ppi

Laurel blooming in my woods

My son Robert

Spirea

Columbine

Big crabs

My mom, Maxine

Darcy and her friends being artistic

Matt Wiest, me and Bela Fleck

Does 'Stump' create awareness of printing paper comsumption?

To illustrate of the worlds' negligent overuse of paper, Natalie Jeremijenko ingeniously brings our personal wastefulness into focus. By combining her backgounds in science, engineering and art she produced a synthetic virus called Stump (1999) available on CD-ROM (Tribe and Jana).

Stump calculates printer-paper use into a rough equivalent of virtual pulp. This pulp accumulates into virtual tree rings. After a medium-sized tree ring caches, a page is automatically printed to remind users of their heedless destruction of a living natural resource; our trees. The printed pages are eventually stacked to form an ever-increasing stump size. Stump demonstrates the environmental baby-toe print made each time we print a document 'growing' into a yeti-sized carbon footprint. For those of us unaware of our gluttonous consumption, Stump could put us on a paper-consumption diet that could lead to a lighter carbon footprint and a healthier planet.

While sincerely intentioned and a brilliant environmental display,

the printing of the tree ring pages produced by the program are

an oversight of Jereminjenko's project. Adding more to world paper consumption until an actual paper tree, or at least a stump, is produced seems anti-reductionist. Perhaps an advance version will have the virtual 'stump' instead of a real one.

Since no action has been taken to add Stump to computer basic start-up programs it is unlikely there will be tremendous impact on enlightenment of most print-copy users. Perhaps Apple could take the enlightened initiative (LOL). Purchasing Stump independently also seems problematic. Although it was produced as a CD-ROM in 2000 for voluntary participants to upload, I found no outlets to purchase a copy.

Stump is printed on a

full-sized page of paper.

(Brucker-Cohen)

References:

Brucker-Cohen, New Media Meets the Environment, Green Museum.org, http://www.greenmuseum.org/c/new_media/. Accessed Sept. 05, 2009

Tribe, Mark and Reena Jana, New Media Art, Brown Univerisity, Profiles: Natalie Jeremijenko. https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/display/MarkTribe/Natalie+Jeremijenko

My still stunningly beautiful mother, Maxine, is incredibly well and an active senior citizen. She participates in many charities including Meals on Wheels and Cancer Pads and is active in all of her church functions. She still drives a car. Since her recent cataract surgery she doesn't even need to wear glasses!

Last year when I went 'home' for Thanksgiving my mother asked me, her oldest daughter of eight children, to give her a birthday party in her part of the country; Detroit, Michigan. Of course I said "yes" especially since it was a landmark birthday: her 80th. I had five months to plan the event from here in St. Mary's County.
Now-a-days most party preparations can be done long distance or on the internet but her photoalbums came home on the plane with me. Some of them were artifacts she inherited from the early 1900s but she continued photographing her family life for all of her 79.5 years. Some of the photos in the album were damaged or faded, even torn and water-stained. I decided they all needed to be scanned and repaired. That was the beginning of THE PROJECT.
I purchased Adobe Photo Elements 7.0 and began learning "by-the-seat-of my-pants" and with the help of my library boss, Carol Morris, and Media Service dude Andy Keiper. I managed to scan all 1200 photos and produce 9 complete photoalbums. One was the antique photos of her family before she was born. Each of the other eight represented my mother's life, one decade for each of her eight decades.
This Digital Photography class would have been so useful for that project. Truth is, it still will be. There were many photos I did not have the skill to repair or improve. After completing the first set of tutorials I am already better equipped to handle THE PROJECT, as it will never end. The damaged pictures can still be repaired for my mother (and my) enjoyment. Her new decade began with pictures of her birthday, kicking off her new 9th decade.

During all this photo work. I asked my mom if she had any wedding pictures. She was really unhappy that nobody had brought a camera to her wedding in front of a Justice of the Peace.

"But", she said, " I do have a picture of me wearing the dress I got married in and your dad holding my shoulders. Can you make that into a wedding picture for me?"

What can you say to your 79.75 year old mother? I said I would try. Here is a copy of the album page with the newspaper article cut out she wanted made into her wedding picture. My mother and father are the little tiny people in the middle of the group. She did not want anyone else in the picture.

A lot of help, much 'lassoing' and 50 resolutions later, the wedding picture was complete. I was short one copy when I went home and gave my hard copy away. When I locate the final product I will post it or perhaps have Prof. Billy show me how to get it out of Adobe, but that "wedding picture" was the best gift I gave her. It filled a hole in her heart she had been wearing for 60 years!

Hoping to get in...